Bollywood's Half Yearly Report Card.

Bollywood in 2017 has given us very bad movies sans a few beautiful and good movies. Many of these beautiful movies were low on promotion and small budget, hence their box office collection and worldwide recognition is far apart. This was reflected in Bollywood's stats where out of 85 releases only 12 have been average or hit at the box office which bring the success ratio to 14.16%. much lower than last year's 22.68%.

 

Bollywood needs to buck up its money game especially when the much anticipated Tubelight has failed miserably on our expectations. Though surprises like Badrinath ki Dulhania, The Ghazi Attack which restored my faith in Bollywood.

 

In this list I am going to talk about the top 5 movies that released in this half of the year as well as the worst 3 movies of the year with a short note for the reason of my choice.

*Baahubali- 2 and The Ghazi Attack will not feature in this list because they are NOT Bollywood movies.

 

THE WORST 3.

3. OK Jaanu: Poor Screenplay, Poor Performances, Below Average Music.

2.  Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai: 2 hr long lecture on female empowerment, Terrible story and execution.

1. MSG 2: The Lion heart: Everything!

 

Where these movies questioned my faith as a movie lover and critic, there were some movies that still made me love Bollywood. These include:

 

The BEST 5.

 

5. Anarkali of Aarah: Amazing Screenplay, Terrific Performances.

                                                               Source: Koimoi.com

 

4. A Death in the Gunj & Haraamkhor:

 Superb Execution, Scintillating Performances.

Source: wikepedia.org

                                                  Amazing Performances, Storyline.

                                                                                                           Source: wikepedia.org

 

3. Meri Pyaari Bindu: (A Personal Favourite but certain flaws which as a critic I can't ignore!) Superlative Performances, Unique Storytelling, Foot-Tapping Retro Music.

                                   Source:BollywoodMDB.com

 

2. Trapped: Ground breaking Performance by RR, Sleek Direction, Taut Screenplay.

                                                             Source: imdb.com

 

1.Hindi Medium: Superb Performances by Saba and Irrfan, Great Story and Direction. Satirically brilliant. Good Music. HM easily emerges as Half Yearly Topper.

                                                        Source: koimoi.com

 

Honourable Mentions: Begumjaan, Kaabil and Jolly LLB 2.

 

Bollywood's 2017 report card is disappointing both in terms of box office and content. It is high time that film-makers stopped making a joke out of the audiences and stopped delivering anything stupid.

Best Actor(Male): Irrfan Khan for Hindi Medium.

                                          Source: Maddock Films.

 

Best Actor(Female): Swara Bhaskar for Anarkali of Aarah.

                                                   

 

So that's all folk. The content game of Bollywood is going strong but box office is on a low. With Jab Harry Met Sejal, Jagga Jasoos, Toilet- Ek Prem Katha, Shubh Mangal Savdhaan, Judwaa 2, Golmaal 4 etc to hit the theatres, we just hope that the business of Bollywood increases compared to last year!

            

 

 

TubeLight Review: This Tubelight Flickers and Ultimately Fuses.

Tube Light is Salman Khan's 2017 Eid gift. In 2015 Salman Khan surprised us by offering Bajrangi Bhaijaan, a movie that struck the strings of our heart. 2016 was Sultan which otherwise was an average watch. Just as I thought Salman was getting better at his content game, Tubelight dropped.

 

                                                          

 

Salman Khan as Laxman Singh Bisht is a let down. A character where he was supposed to emote with his eyes and recreate something like BB, he somewhat fails and delivers an average performance. Sohail Khan as Bharat Singh Bisht, is surprisingly good. He essays the role with good conviction. The kid, Martin Tangu delivers the best performance. His innocence his visible through his eyes. Though he remains unmatched to Harshaali Malhotra, he does his best in his zone. Zhu Zhu, the actress makes a fair debut by all bollywood standards. The movie also features the terrific Om Puri who as usual gave a very impressive performance. SRK in his cameo, disappoints.

                  

                                                                      

 

The camera work, the cinematography, the locales, the dialogues and the lyrics have something or the other which seems to be missing. Kabir Khan, who otherwise is an impressive film maker, surprises with a dull narration, poor screenplay of otherwise a good story. The movie does have its moments but they come too late to save this faulty tubelight.

 

 

But like it has always been, no one looks for logic in a Salman Khan movie, Tubelight is no exception. Had the narration been a little better and Salman Khan would have given BB feels, Tubelight could have emerged as his best movie.  Poor entertainment levels, and some MAJOR MISSING entertainment  value and too much reliability on emotions, Tubelight flickers and ultimately fuses. I am going with 2.5 stars.

 

                                                  

 

P.S : Look out for the next article, 'Bollywood's Half Yearly Report Card' to know whether Tubelight made it to the Top 5 of my list.

 

A Death in the Gunj Review: Go Gunjing Here! Surreal, Intriguing and Brilliant.

ADITG is a movie which perhaps many of us do not know about. To begin with, it is the debut of the fantastic actress Konkana Sen Sharma and features an ensemble cast of Kalki Koechlin, Vikrant Massy, Gulshan Deviah, Om Puri sir, Tanuja, Ranvir Shorey and Tillotama Shome. With such an ensemble cast of actors and not 'stars', ADITG surprises.

                                                   

 

With such brilliant 'actors' on board, a movie can never gone wrong on the acting stage. Like I have said earlier, Vikrant Massy has to be the 'find of 2017'. He plays Shyamlal 'Shutu' with finesse and to perfection. Gulshan Deviah as Nandu, Kalki as Mimi and Ranvir Shorey as Vikram give solid performances which are ably backed by Tanuja and Om Puri sir. Jim Sarbh as Brian shines in the movie with his fine English accent and emotions.

 

                                              

 

ADITG introduces us to director, Konkana Sen Sharma. Like her acting prowess, her directorial skills are top-notch. She should rightfully walk away with "The Best Debut Director" trophy. Sharma takes proper care of the script, its setting which talk about the details she cares for. Fantastically scripted in the likes of an Agatha Christie novel, ADITG has brilliant direction, camerawork, dialogues and subtle undertones of dark humor which feel likable and at times relatable. Though the English language used in the movie maybe a hurdle for the people, but otherwise ADITG cannot be missed. The movie has some MAJOR goofups because of which ADITG becomes a slightly disappointing watch. The predictable climax, a somewhat lousy screenplay and the background score which sounds creepy. ADITG fills one with eeriness and creates an intriguing world which all of a sudden seems to disappear. And that's a drawback of the movie.

                                             

 

Anyways, with all said and done, ADITG should NOT be missed. Though, it's more of an indie film which might not suit the pallet of many a people but for those who like engaging cinema, don't give it a miss. I am going with 4/5 for A Death in the Gunj. Surreal, intriguing and Brilliantly presented.

 

                                      

 

                                    Don't miss a directorial debut so stunning and brilliant.

The movie unfortunately won't go far in the box office run as we are quite 'intolerant' towards meaningful and engaging cinema and part of which can be blamed for minimal promotions. The movie will make a maximum of 50 million (5 crores) at the box office solely in the name of Konkana.